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General Director David Gockley’s final season features some of his favorites: Verdi’s Don Carlo, Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd, Janáček’s Jenůfa and a new production of Carmen. Secure your seats and subscribe today!

San Francisco Opera invites you and your family to attend FREE screenings of our Opera-in-an-Hour Movies presented throughout the San Francisco Bay Area. To learn about where you can catch a screening of our family friendly operas, click here.

Sex. Drama. Sabotage. Greed. Oh, and of course, amazing feats of athletic ability. You might not think that opera and the Winter Olympics have anything in common, but we here at San Francisco Opera beg to differ. As we quickly approach the opening of the 22nd Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, we give you 14 ways opera is like the Winter Olympics:

The much-anticipated debut of Moby-Dick on PBS’ Great Performances airs this weekend and to celebrate San Francisco Opera invites you to #WhaleWatch: a nationwide viewing party! Invite your friends and family to a Moby-Dick themed gathering at your home or favorite bar/restaurant, and you can win a DVD or Blu-Ray signed by composer Jake Heggie by sharing your photos and ideas with us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram using #WhaleWatch. Below, we give you some of our ideas on how to have a whale of a time from nautical-themed hors d'oeuvres and cocktails to projection-based mood lighting -- remember to send us your seaworthiest moments and share your own ideas with us!

Maestro Patrick Summers, Principal Guest Conductor of San Francisco Opera and Artistic and Music Director of Houston Grand Opera, has been associated with SFO since his participation in the Merola Opera Program in the late 1980s. Since then, he has led a vast repertory of productions for the Company, including Ariodante; Samson et Dalila; Iphigénie en Tauride; Il Trittico, Xerxes; the world premieres of André Previn’s A Streetcar Named Desire (1998), Jake Heggie’s Dead Man Walking (2000), and Christopher Theofanidis and Donna Di Novelli’s Heart of a Soldier (2011); and the West Coast premiere of Heggie’s Three Decembers (2008) as well as Moby-Dick (2012). Recently, Maestro Summers took the time to answer our questions about Wagner, his enduring relationship with SFO, and how he balances his many diverse responsibilities.

Just like the rest of the world, we here at San Francisco Opera are anxiously awaiting the return of "Arrested Development" on Sunday. And so, in honor of this momentous occasion, we looked back at the life and times of the family Bluth and put together 14 ways that opera is like "Arrested Development."

We continue our in-depth profiles of our Adler Fellows this week with second year coaching fellow Robert Mollicone. Originally from East Greenwich, Rhode Island, Robert completed both his undergraduate and graduate studies at Boston University's College of Fine Arts where he assisted on productions there, as well as the Boston University Tanglewood Institute. After completing his studies he was a member of the Spectrum Resident Artist Program at Virginia Opera and the Domingo-Cafritz Young Artist Program at the Washington National Opera. He was a participant in the 2011 Merola Opera Program. As an Adler Fellow, Robert has assisted on productions including The Magic Flute, Nixon in China, Moby-Dick, and The Secret Garden as well as productions with the Merola Opera Program. He has also worked with Boston Lyric Opera, Opera North, and the Baltimore Symphony.

Introduction

Backstage at San Francisco Opera is a fascinating, fast-moving, mysterious and sacred space for the Company’s singers, musicians, dancers, technicians and production crews. Musical and staging rehearsals are on-going, scenery is loaded in and taken out, lighting cues are set, costumes and wigs are moved around and everything is made ready to receive the audience. From the principal singers, chorus and orchestra musicians to the creative teams for each opera, in addition to the many talented folks who don’t take a bow on stage, this blog offers unique insight, both thought-provoking and light-hearted, into the life backstage at San Francisco Opera.